June is LGBT Pride Month and on Saturday June 28 in San Francisco, the Dyke March kicks off with a rally at 4 p.m. and march at 6 p.m. The Dyke March starts at Dolores Park and works its way through the Mission and over to the Castro. With any large gathering, my thoughts inevitably turn to food and drink: after all, people watching and marching can make anyone ravenous and wondering “where’s my next snack?” Dykes and in-the-know San Franciscans from all over the Kinsey spectrum had tips about the Dyke March. One advised to bring food from home and a longtime Castro resident said to seek out eateries off of the parade path. But if you don’t feel like prepping food and don’t want to miss out on the festivities we have collected a list of eateries and bars that are on the traditional march route.

Three of the most popular hangouts are on one block of 18th Street: Dolores Park Cafe, Delfina, and Pizzeria Delfina. For these three hot spots, I was able to find out what it’s like for those always popular eateries to participate in the Dyke March.

Dyke March at Dolores Park Cafe. Photo courtesy of Dolores Park Cafe

More than a few folks named Dolores Park Cafe as the best spot to people watch. Dolores Park Cafe’s Rachel Herbert told Bay Area Bites that:

“We have special menu items for Dyke March and Pride every year. This year we are working on breast rainbow cakes (cupcakes), custom rainbow pops, and some special fresh squeezed organic juice combinations as well as Hunky Bear burgers & jello shots. The Hunky Bear burger is an eight ounce grass fed burger on a home-made challah bun with wild arugula, Roma tomatoes and our secret sauce. It’s all organic, including the flour used to make the bun.”

Pizzeria Delfina and Delfina are also great spots to take in the eye candy.

Delfina’s Ashley Bellview said:

“We love that the Dyke March passes right by us. It’s something that we look forward to every year and with our prime front row seating — it’s something that our guests look forward too as well. To help support the March, we both supported it financially as a sponsor as well as donate proceeds from our special edition Pizzeria PRIDE t-shirts.”

According to Bellview, the shirts are being finalized and can be purchased for $25 and will be available through all pizzeria locations. Look to their upcoming newsletter for more details.

The restaurants, eateries and bars are listed roughly in order of the Dyke March’s typical flow from start to finish.

Curry Up Now is the only place where you can order naughty naan and sexy fries in the Mission. Yes, you probably want to share; just saying “naughty” and “sexy” out loud often helps move things along… at least in my mind. The Tikka Masala burrito is filling and fun.

Pancho Villa
30171 16th St. [map]
Ph: 415-864-8840
Easy access, fast and friendly to-go burritos are a good option here. Or stay for the full-plate meals, agua fresca and Mexican beers in festive yet casual atmosphere. Service is efficient and able to handle the crowds — meaning they’ll quickly take care of the hangry types in your midst.

Truly Mediterranean
3109 16th St. [map]
Ph: 415-252-7482
The menu is short and sweet, and you’re toughest decision may be to get the falafel deluxe or shawarma, which makes for walk-as-you-eat-ease or settle into the more hearty combo plate, which rocks a light Baba ghanoush, hummus and other delights.

With so many hot new food projects it can be hard to keep track of them all and this month is especially buzz-y. Here are fresh updates including one from chef Traci Des Jardins, who is no stranger to Bay Area Bites. Her new restaurant, The Commissary, opened this week in a restored building that once housed barracks. This eatery is being run in conjunction with the Presidio Trust and Bon Appetit Management Company, and serves up more Spanish flavors than Des Jardins’ other spots: Jardinière Restaurant, Mijita, Public House, and Manzanita. Des Jardins is in the Commissary kitchen right now, but once things settle down kitchen duties will go to executive chefs Reylon Agustin and Robbie Lewis, pictured above. You may want to call ahead since the hours during the soft opening are varied.

Cheese with quince paste and Marcona almonds at The Commissary. Photo: Aubrie Pick

I caught up with Des Jardins at a preview event while plates of fingerling potato with chorizo and aioli came out of the kitchen, followed by beautiful and tasty sardines with fava beans, radish and garlic. A hearty cheese board was also on offer and other guests who were taking in the airy and open space included Craig Middleton of the Presidio Trust, photographer Frankie Frankeny, Susie and Mark Buell, Liz Einbinder, James Stolich (Cook with James), Jennifer Roy, Joe Brown (his bread from Marla Bakery is used), and Culinary Consultant Laiko Bahrs. The chef’s comments have been edited for content and clarity.

Fava beans at The Commissary. Photo: Aubrie Pick

Bay Area Bites: How’s the opening going?Des Jardins: It’s always crazy. You know how it is. I’ll be here through it all.

Bay Area Bites: What are some of your favorite dishes and what’s the menu like?Des Jardins: It’s very improvisational and will change. We’re getting seafood that’s rated well by the Monterey Seafood Watch and is local, like sardines in escabeche. We do some of our own curing here. There’s also grilled squid and garbanzo beans with fennel and aioli; striped bass, clams and toasted almond picada; as well as roasted chicken, liver toast, Marcona almonds and dates.

The wait for Chino (which is Spanish for Chinese), a modern Chinese spot from the folks at Tacolicious, is almost over. Chino, which is still under construction, has been eagerly anticipated because it means a new place in the Mission District to eat steamed buns known as baos, noodles, “grab pancakes” of the zhōng zhuā bǐng (蔥抓餅) variety, dumplings and other small plates, with or without adult beverages. Danny Louie had a hand in helping create the bar program, and drinks of interest include the Shanghai Buck (Pampero aniversario rum, ginger, bitters & lime) and Chinatown Iced Tea (Baijiu, almond milk, passion fruit, Lipton tea and lemon). Chino will open this Wednesday, May 28 in a space that for years housed a tapas eatery called Andalu.

Bao de chicharon pork belly bun. Photo: Chino

Joe Hargrave came up with the idea for the casual Chinese spot with his wife, Sara Deseran, who is a San Francisco Magazine editor and food writer. The menu was crafted with an assist from chef Telmo Faria (who has long been associated with Tacolicious) and initial work was done by chef Brandon Jew, who is no longer on the project after a friendly parting. Chino started as a pop-up at the Ferry Building and Hargrave traveled to some fun spots for a little R+D before moving into the brick-and-mortar location. Hargrave updated me on what to expect. His comments have been edited for content and clarity.

Bay Area Bites: What dishes can customers look forward to?Hargrave: It’s a funny concept and not totally different than Tacolicious, which we took a lot of heat for. I have a super love of noodles and dumplings and you can go to a few places in the Avenues, but overall it’s just not prevalent and available here. Sara wrote a book 12 years ago about Asian vegetables, and it’s a topic that she really knows a lot about. We’re going to have vegetables and cocktails along with baos and Dan Dan noodles that will be authentic, whatever that means. Look for Korean and Japanese flavors. It’s not going to be fusion.

Bay Area Bites: What are the tough parts about opening?Hargrave: We don’t speak Mandarin, so sourcing ingredients means I have to take a picture, and go to a market in Chinatown, because I don’t have any words. If I go to La Palma for Tacolicious, I can speak Spanish and order 50,000 tortillas. If I go to Chinatown, I am not able to do that.

It’s just amazing, when people tell me “if you’re going to do a Chinese restaurant you have to have a wok and these are the dishes you have to do.” I say no, I don’t have to do a wok station, it’s just not my concept. San Franciscans are very funny about authenticity.

Cucumbers all busted up dish. Photo: Chino

I was in Taipei, Taiwan and there was super mashed-up food showing Japanese influence and lots of fresh seafood. We went to a place called Addiction Aquatic, that has the most amazing fish market. The pork with peanut in spongey white bread is Taiwanese and we’re bringing that back.

Chairman Bao and M.Y. China use Peking duck. At Tacolicious we do a taco of the week; the bao is almost replaceable with a tortilla. At Momofuku, I tried a pastrami bao that was delicious and really good. There is also a Cubano with chile cheese, and pork that was pressed… those things would bug the purists to no end.

Chef Michael Mina may be an expert in refined American cuisine and seafood, creating dishes that are elevated, memorable and delicious—his beef tartare from the now shuttered but much beloved Aqua Restaurant is a fine Exhibit A. The Master Chef is also adept at launching restaurants that are exciting and on-trend. For the Bay Area, we can look forward to the opening of Pabu and The Ramen Bar in the near future. Mina shared tasty details about the concepts with Bay Area Bites recently. His comments have been edited for content and clarity.

Robatayaki Chicken. Photo credit: Mina Group

Bay Area Bites: Tell us about Pabu and The Ramen Bar.

Mina: We couldn’t be more excited about this opening. Pabu and The Ramen Bar are slated to open in mid-June at 101 California in the FiDi. Pabu and The Ramen Bar is a collaboration and partnership between myself and Ken Tominaga, owner and chef of the famed Hana Sushi in Sonoma County.

My family and I have been regulars at Ken’s restaurant for years, and I’ve been looking for the right project to work with him on. I have been very fortunate, and at this stage in my career, the most rewarding opportunity is to build partnerships with chefs like Ken that need and deserve a showcase that this opening will create.

Ken has always wanted to do a big Japanese concept in San Francisco – it’s been a lifelong dream of his. When this opportunity presented itself and 101 California Street became available, I toured it and knew immediately that it would be perfect our collaboration.

Lotus root. Photo credit: Mina Group

Pabu will be a modern izakaya and sushi bar offering authentic, and high caliber Japanese cuisine, and contemporary takes on traditional Japanese dining options including a sushi bar, izakaya, robata grill and a specialized Shabu Shabu program.

The Ramen Bar, my first fast casual concept, will include both a take-out and dine in option, and feature signature ramen bowls from Ken, which will include fresh noodles, a choice of homemade broths, proteins, and an abundance of on site, freshly-grown vegetables and greens from our indoor/outdoor urban garden. This space will also include a unique bar concept highlighting the best in Japanese whisky, beer and sake.

Sashimi. Photo credit: Mina Group

Bay Area Bites: What dishes can folks look forward to for both spots?

Mina: We’ve got a lot of really cool things: at Pabu, an a la carte menu will be available in the izakaya and dining room highlighting seasonal small plates, grilled items from a robata grill, rice, and noodle and soup dishes for the everyday.

Okonomiyaki. Photo credit: Mina Group

Some of my favorites from the menu include Ken’s award-winning sushi and sashimi, skewers, and tempura, as well as Ken’s “Happy Spoon” oyster topped with uni, ikura, tobiko and ponzu crème fraiche.

Happy Spoon. Photo credit: Mina Group

In the formal dining room, we’ll also be featuring two omakase menus – one is a traditional representation of Japanese products and technique while another is the Sushi Nigiri Tasting Menu.

We will also be featuring a specialized Shabu Shabu service, emphasizing a unique and interactive clean eating experience for the guest – featuring A4 and A5 Wagyu and fresh vegetables cooked in savory broths at their tables.

At The Ramen Bar, we will be highlighting four ramen offerings including our Tokyo Chicken Shio with beer can chicken and shio kombu (edible kelp), and our Kaisen Miso with shrimp, crab and Tokyo negi (Japanese onions).

There will also be a seasonal soba offering at The Ramen Bar with house-made gluten-free chilled noodles and broth.

Bay Area Bites: How will this be different from the Baltimore Pabu you opened with Ken Tominaga?

Mina: Both Ken and I have been on the hunt for the perfect location for this Japanese venture and while the opportunity first arose in Baltimore at the Four Seasons, San Francisco had always been the ideal market for both Pabu and The Ramen Bar. I’ve known 101 California as a neighbor for many years, and always thought it could be the perfect spot for an upcoming project. When the space became available, I showed it to Ken, and he fell in love with it immediately.

Obviously this project will be much bigger than the Baltimore restaurant – in terms of space. We have 10,000 square feet to work with, and are excited to take full advantage of the picturesque and natural indoor and outdoor setting to grow our own downtown herb and vegetable garden.

Bay Area Bites: What do you think the ramen scene is like in the Bay Area? How do we compare with other cities like Baltimore?

Mina: In many ways, I think the ramen scene in the Bay Area, especially in San Francisco, is still burgeoning. It still exists in the underground and has an almost cult following. With The Ramen Bar, I want to create a bigger platform for this style of Japanese cuisine, and make it more accessible for locals. Our location at 101 California is perfect for this, and why we’ve decided on doing both dine in and take out options with The Ramen Bar.

Bay Area Bites: Are you still doing the East Indian concept on Steuart Street?

Mina: Right now we are focusing all of our attention and energy on the opening of Pabu and The Ramen Bar. It’s the concept I’ve always wanted to do in San Francisco, and feel incredibly lucky to have Ken to partner with on this opening.

With so many hot new food projects happening it can be hard to keep track of them all. Here are the fresh updates on folks we’ve profiled in the past: the Humphry Slocombe team, as well as Dave McLean of Magnolia Brewery fame.

Fans of the wildly popular artisan Humphry Slocombe ice cream store, from Sean Vahey and Jake Godby, are able to now enjoy scoop action at a new Ferry Building outpost (Ferry Plaza Farmers Market at The Embarcadero), which opened earlier this month. We caught up with Vahey to find out more. His comments have been edited for content and clarity.

Vahey: The Ferry Building approached us and we’re honored to be asked. We’d been doing the Tuesday market outside and have a lot of great relationships with folks in the building like Blue Bottle coffee–they serve our ice cream with their affogato. There’s also Far West Fungi, who helped us do our candy cap popsicles. Some say they taste like waffles, or pancakes, I say “Who cares?” It’s that maple-y, “Who knew mushrooms could taste like that?” thing.

Other relationships include McEvoy Ranch Olive Oil, who has our pints. And then there’s Boccalone Salumeria who worked on our lard caramels. Since we’re involved with so many people at the Ferry Building, it’s a good fit for us.

Bay Area Bites: Tell us about what folks can look forward to now that you’re open.

Vahey: The first thing people ask is “You will have Secret Breakfast, right?” I love the look on everyone’s face—they have their nose down and this sort of panicked look. Yes, we will have Secret Breakfast, and very similar flavors as our Mission shop: Tahitian Vanilla, Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee and Secret Breakfast will always be offered so people can get their fix.

Some flavors will change and there’s no rhyme or reason to it, like in the Mission.

We are most proud of the space–Jane Martin at Shift Design is our Mission neighbor and that’s how we got to know her. She’s also a friend and customer. Her idea on how to change the space really went along with what we were thinking — it was darker and we wanted it be more interactive. We fought her on some things — the open up wall, that continues the space out into the breezeway, makes the store appear bigger and more welcoming. We’ll have stand up tables, because we want customers to stay and hang out.

Humphry Slocombe ingredients. Photo: Sean Vahey, Humphry Slocombe

Bay Area Bites: What is the toughest part about opening?Vahey: Probably the transition of the space, which took a lot longer than we thought. We demolished the whole space, and made it completely our own.

Bay Area Bites: What do you have planned for the future?Vahey: We want to get the Ferry Building spot up and running. We do all of our production out of the Mission shop. It’s almost 24 hour production at this point. We have a great kitchen manager and bought a new bigger machine. I do see us growing out of that space.

We’re so lucky to be working with Virgin America, which will serve our Butter By Moodlight flavor on eastbound flights. It’s a creamy combination of brown butter and blueberry glaze and was voted in based on a people’s choice contest on Twitter.

Bay Area Bites: What’s your guilty food pleasure?

Vahey: Salt and vinegar chips, and fries–anything that has salt and vinegar in front of it. I can’t believe I just said that.

The wait for a new brewery and BBQ spot—called Smokestack (2505 3rd St. at 22nd St.) — from Dave McLean has been eagerly anticipated and means a new place to eat and drink in the increasingly popular Dogpatch neighborhood. The brewery is reportedly up and running and played host to SF Beer Week and Strong Beer Month happenings–but it’s not yet open for business. The targeted opening remains uncertain but is said to be as soon as this month. McLean filled us in on what to expect; his comments have been edited for content and clarity.

McLean: It’s a BBQ place, Smokestack, in the front of our new production brewery in the Dogpatch. Like brewing, BBQ is a time-honored craft, full of tradition and regional variation but ultimately an opportunity for creative expression in the hands of people who love it and dedicate themselves to it. For us, it’s a great extension of many of our longtime culinary values, especially sustainable sourcing, in-house butchery and making everything from scratch.

Beer and BBQ just go so well together. So do bourbon and BBQ, and Smokestack has an extensive whiskey selection, focusing on American producers, and a somewhat whiskey-centric cocktail menu developed by bar manager, Eric Quilty. We forged an exciting partnership with Dennis Lee to man the smokers and bring our BBQ vision to life in a unique and expressive way. I’ve always loved his food and it’s exciting to be working with him. Smokestack brings together a great team of people, along with products and ideas that we love, in a special place that we hope exudes both warm hospitality and a nod to the neighborhood’s industrial past. Like the original Magnolia Pub as well as Alembic, we hope it further highlights the delicious interconnectedness of beer and brewing with all manner of food and other beverages.

Bay Area Bites: For food, what can folks look forward to?

McLean: The heart of the kitchen is in its smokers. In fact, everything in the kitchen is wood-fired. It’s an order by the pound at the counter place so diners will get to try a lot of different items, especially if they bring a hungry friend or two. The selection will vary based on availability but look for smoked pork belly, beef brisket and house-made sausages like Thai chili cheddar pork. Sides include burnt ends heirloom beans, collard greens with Kölsch, miso and chili, and Namu’s signature old family recipe kimchee.

Bay Area Bites: And share about the beers of course!

McLean: We’ve brewed over 75 different beers since Magnolia opened in 1997 and our new brewery in the Dogpatch allows us to experiment even more. The beer selection will rotate often, as it does at the original Haight pub, but we have a core lineup that includes our Kalifornia Kölsch, Proving Ground IPA, and Blue Bell Bitter, which is our ode to the great heirloom barley from the UK, Maris Otter. Alongside those and others, there will be Magnolia beers at Smokestack that are only available at our own two pubs.

Bay Area Bites: What is the toughest part about opening?

McLean: It’s the classic adage — everything takes a lot longer and costs a lot more than planned, no matter how well you plan. I think it might be a little different every time, in terms of which variables are the toughest to figure out. It has its challenging moments but in the end love for what we do keeps enthusiasm high and there’s plenty of energy to weather the hurdles and delays.

Which of these new spots are you excited to try? What other openings are on your list?

Since last summer, we’ve been hearing buzz about how Suvir Saran, the first chef to earn a Michelin star for an Indian restaurant in America, is leaving New York for our city on the Bay. Well, it’s finally happening. The New Dehli native is moving into the increasingly popular Mid-Market corridor with a still-unnamed restaurant, and adjacent bar and lounge, slated to open this fall. His first restaurant on the West Coast will come into in the NEMA building (14 10th Street), across the street from Twitter.

Along with earning the first Michelin star for an Indian restaurant in America, while at Devi in New York, Saran has appeared on Top Chef Masters and penned several cookbooks. Saran’s most recent book, Masala Farm, focuses on the upstate New York farm where he’s been spending much of his time since leaving Devi last year. This ethos will show up in the new restaurant with a seasonal approach as part of the operating plan. Bay Area Bites caught up with Saran recently. His comments have been edited for content and clarity.

Bay Area Bites: Tell us about your new restaurant.

Saran: My new project will be at 10th and Market, in San Francisco’s NEMA building. The overall concept is my version of California cuisine, a reflection of my Indian birth as well as flavors from the countries I have traveled. The staff will be a mosaic of hospitable people from all walks of life; a grouping that echoes the population of San Francisco, as well as the complexity of my food.

When I first moved to New York, I lived in Greenwich Village and frequented the nearby Meatpacking District, which at that time was a forgotten part of the city. Over the years I saw the Meatpacking District go through a transformation, becoming the city’s ‘most fashionable’ neighborhood. I see a similarity between San Francisco’s Mid-Market area now and New York City’s Meatpacking District from the 1990s, and am excited to invest in this community’s revitalization and give San Francisco another wonderful restaurant to enjoy.

The restaurant will offer something for everyone: a welcoming and comforting environment with the main focus always being that of serving delicious and memorable food and drinks to our guests. Our goal is to have the overall experience linger on your taste buds long after you leave our doors.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have a name for the spot yet?

Saran: Currently, we are deciding between two or three and will be choosing one in the next few weeks.

Saran’s fried chicken. Photo: Ben Fink

Bay Area Bites: What are some of your new menu favorites so far?

Saran: Fried chicken – a crispy, crunchy fried chicken with a fountain of juicy aromatics. Grandmother’s cornbread – once you have had this cornbread you won’t want any other. Walnut, pepper and sumac spread. Spicy cabbage with peanut ginger slaw – turns humans into goats while endlessly grazing.

We’ll also have Rose Levy Beranbaum’s favorite biscuits, served with house-made jams, jellies and marmalades. The Pie and Pastry Bible author has called these the ‘best biscuits she has ever had.’

Bay Area Bites: How will this be different from Devi?

Saran: Devi was my tribute to the home-cooking of India. This new project will showcase my love affair with the produce and meats found in San Francisco and will bring to life all that has captivated my attention over the years.

Bay Area Bites: What is the toughest part about opening?

Saran: Just being able to open! Luckily, financials have not been an issue as I have at my side entrepreneur extraordinaire, Paresh Ghelani. Paresh believes in me, believes in San Francisco and believes in gracious hospitality, generosity and good food.

Saran shows off berries at his farm. Photo: Ben Fink

Bay Area Bites: What do you think the Indian/farm-to-table scene is like in the Bay Area? And how do we compare with other cities?

Saran: Sadly, the Indian food scene across American is rather dismal, which is why I opened Devi. As I settle down in San Francisco I hope one day to open a fine dining Indian restaurant. Now, however, my focus will be on Californian cuisine and sharing food that reflects the global village that the world has become.

Since I moved to America in 1993, I have been traveling to San Francisco many times each year. To this day, no city matches it in terms of what their farms and markets have to offer. This was the main draw for me to move to San Francisco and open up a new restaurant.

Bay Area Bites: What’s your guilty food pleasure?

Saran: A pint of ice cream in bed at midnight!

Bay Area Bites: What else is new with you—locally and nationally?

Saran: Our upcoming move to San Francisco this May is keeping us very busy. I also have a new book coming out in April of 2015, which will be my second book with San Francisco-based publisher, Chronicle Books. And we just received Angora rabbits at our farm in New York.

Casey Thompson may be a familiar face from her Top Chef appearance as a finalist during Season 3, but the Bay Area is anxiously awaiting her local debut, soon to come with Aveline and The European, a restaurant and cocktail bar both slated to open soon inside the Warwick Hotel in San Francisco. Thompson moved here from Dallas and spent three years helping wineries pair up with local farms. She also served as the US Ambassador for Terrazas de los Andes, a Moet-Hennessey brand.

Aveline’s menu is billed as San Francisco-centric, and the bar space will feature craft-meets-classic drinks created by Master Barman Adam Wilson. Bay Area Bites caught up with Thompson recently. Her comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Bay Area Bites: Tell us about Aveline & The European, your first business foray on the Bay Area scene.

Thompson: Aveline is my baby. Not literally, but close. These are the dishes I have had dancing around in my thoughts for the past two years. The name, Aveline, is a combination of my two grandmothers that have each had a strong culinary influence on me. The menu is essentially Californian in style, but also a reflection of me, my career, and my path as a chef. It is all of my travels, my experiences, and my favorite things in the form of a restaurant.

The staff is a talented group of people that I have sought out or collaborated with before on past projects. They have all worked for talented chefs and trained hard to get where they are now. I couldn’t be happier and more excited that we get to experience this project together. It is as much theirs as it is mine. As for location, we are located at the Warwick San Francisco at 490 Geary Street, just outside of Union Square in the Tenderloin.

The European, which will be located across the lobby from the restaurant, is in many ways the brother concept to Aveline. Where Aveline is light and feminine, The European is dark, rich, sexy, and masculine. The European is the mastermind of industry veteran Adam Wilson. Although this project is very much a collaboration with Adam and myself (I will be providing a bar exclusive menu for the new space), the stars of the show are most definitely Adam’s beautiful, hand-tailored cocktails. Featuring a selection of aperitif, champagne, and lower-proof cocktails, Adam’s list is European in overall style, but also very evocative of West Coast cocktail trends -– really letting the freshness and vibrancy of the ingredients shine and guide the overall experience of each cocktail.

My personal favorites from Adam’s list are The European (Campari, grapefruit, lemon, seltzer and gum) and the Violet Fizz (gin, raspberry, cream, seltzer). Both, as with all of his cocktails, are stunningly gorgeous.

Bay Area Bites: What are your favorite dishes on the food menu?

Thompson: Chicken skins, charred onion, and eggplant with trout roe is just plain delicious. The skins are crisped slowly in the oven and brushed with honey.

Wagyu, fatback, and cheese toast is going to be a favorite. The toast is run through a pasta machine and fried quickly, which puffs it into a doughnut shape. After, the Wagyu and fatback is laid on top and then melted.

Vegetable garden with turtle beans, nori, chicory, and mustard cream is healthy and beautiful. Someone recently said they wanted to shrink themselves and walk amongst the landscape. It was such a genius thought. Now I want to walk in the garden as well.

Vegetable Garden dish. Photo: Eric Wolfinger Photography.

Iberico Pork grilled over white Binchotan charcoal, seared medium rare, and served with pig ear, buttermilk curd, and ranch consommé is another one of my favorites from the menu.

Bay Area Bites: What is the toughest part about opening?

Thompson: Opening a restaurant isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it is a fun and exciting experience. In many ways it is similar to coordinating a wedding (for those that enjoy planning them), except no one is getting married.

Bay Area Bites: What do you think the restaurant scene is like in the Bay Area? And how do we compare with other cities?

Thompson: I love San Francisco. I have wanted to live and chef here for many years. My dream is finally coming true. It is one of, if not the best, food cities in our nation. I am so proud to be cooking in it.

Thompson: Did someone tell you Cheetos is one of my favorite guilty pleasures? Did someone also mention I am making house-made Cheetos for the bar snack?

Bay Area Bites: What else is new?

Thompson: My focus is on this opening. I still continue to do other projects, as chefs do these days, and enjoy them all. I like to stay busy. I look forward to many other projects as the years go on – including writing a beautiful cookbook.

Everyone loves ice cream, and all the better when it incorporates components that amp up the science “wow” factor in a big and fun show. Around here, that means Robyn Sue Fisher, who is the founder of Smitten Ice Cream, started out of an (adorable) red Radio Flyer wagon. She’s outgrew the wagon, though, and set up shop in a stylish shipping container in Hayes Valley. Fisher has now expanded and recently opened a new outpost of Smitten in the Whole Foods Market in Los Altos and has plans to open in Rockridge in April and Lafayette further east in May.

At Smitten, Fisher and her crew of Brristas create velvety creamy batches of remarkably tasty desserts in a matter of three minutes with the use of liquid nitrogen. For many, the show is as much fun as eating the results. There are gourmet flavors from salted caramel (still very much a trend) to the seasonal blood orange with pistachio shortbread to Meyer lemon to fresh mint that is miles away from the bright green sweets of yesteryear. Bay Area Bites caught up with Fisher to find out what’s new and what’s in store for ice cream (and science) fans.

Meyer lemon ice cream getting made. Photo: Isabelle Enger

Bay Area Bites: Congratulations on opening in Los Altos. Next, you’ll have spots in Rockridge & Lafayette. What has the expansion process been like?

Fisher: It’s been really exciting. We have built an awesome team to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row. We have been working for several years on our next generation Brrr(TM) machine — our one-of-a-kind patented ice cream churning machine that makes ice cream with liquid nitrogen to create the freshest and smoothest ice cream on earth. And we’ll have six of these Brrr machines in each new location so that we can have six made-to-order flavors each day, rather than four at Hayes Valley. Our amazing pastry chef, Robyn Lenzi, has also been working on some fun and super tasty new products, such as our Brrrgers (i.e., homemade Brioche ice cream sandwiches, which look like mini ice cream burgers).

We have also been working with an awesome team of architects to design our new locations so that they have a really unique and special feel — sticking with our roots but taking it one step further and bringing it to a brick and mortar location. The new Smitten Ice Cream shops definitely make the Hayes Valley location look like a kiosk, as the new shops are more than three times bigger and are ready to make even more people smitten with made-to-order scoops and homemade pairings (i.e., toppings)!

Bay Area Bites: The use of liquid nitrogen means you get the ice cream to a customer after 90 seconds of brrr cold. How do you get the product to still be so creamy?

Fisher: Our patented Brrr machines (literally invented by my team and I in a basement shop and prototyped on the streets of San Francisco out of our Radio Flyer Wagon) are specially designed to make the creamiest scoop possible. The Brrr machine uses liquid nitrogen, which is -321 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezing the ice cream at such a low temperature and with the special patented helical mixing blades creates exceptionally small ice crystals. These small ice crystals are why our product is smoother and creamier than any other ice cream out there. Our Brrr machine also has patented software that senses viscosity to ensure the ice cream has the perfect texture.

Robyn Sue Fisher in her wagon. Photo: Courtesy of SF Weekly

Bay Area Bites: Is the ice cream set up different for your new locations? What tools do you use?

Fisher: Our new locations have six of our next generation Brrr machines. These next generation machines churn more ice cream at one time and do so quicker. The six Brrr machines allow us to serve six flavors, rather than four.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you get your recipes? What are the best sellers?

Fisher: Our awesome pastry chef, Robyn Lenzi, creates all of our recipes from the finest ingredients in the Bay Area. Our best sellers are our salted caramel; our fresh mint chip, which is made with fresh organic mint, rather than extract, and homemade chocolate chips; and our seasonal flavors, which are made with fresh, organic, just picked local fruit (e.g., blood orange with pistachio shortbread in March rhubarb crisp in April, and strawberry white balsamic in May).

Bay Area Bites: Why did you start making ice cream? What sorts of sweets did you grow up with?

Fisher: Ice cream has always been the food I loved most, and I wanted to take that product I loved and make it even better. I was bothered that ice cream, in today’s “modern” day and age, had become laden with preservatives, emulsifiers and stabilizers to last throughout the labyrinth distribution chain from production to end consumer. I wanted to take all of that away and make every batch of ice cream to-order with only fresh, pure ingredients. With our unique production technique, we could throw all of the compromises and sacrifices out the window and focus only on taste.

Ice cream has ALWAYS been my favorite sweet. My mom used to say that I had two stomachs, and one was solely reserved for ice cream. I still believe that!

San Francisco is bursting with so many hot new food projects it can be hard to keep track of them all. Here are the juiciest updates on spots from Tim & Erin Archuleta, Ryan Farr, and Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty.

Fans of the wildly popular ICHI Sushi, from Tim and Erin Archuleta, are able to now enjoy sushi and sake or shoju cocktails at the new 30-seat ICHI Sushi & NI Bar (3282 Mission). Chef Tim Archuleta even went to six spots in Japan to source the new grill, which has a glass top. While eating, guests can also get a “how-to” tutorial on eating sushi properly via a fun mural by artist Erik Marinovich.

Archuleta clued Bay Area Bites into the can’t miss items and recommends trying the “omakase at ICHI–we’re expanding our fish offerings.” She said, “There’s also the Sanbaizu Sunomono, which includes ebi, Japanese cucumbers, and tremella. And the miso Asari clams are clams with ground pork and Kuro oil.” The grill rightly has a starring role and will be used to prepare dishes such as Momo Yakitori (chicken thighs), Kaka Niku Kushiyaki (miso-braised pork shoulder), and Gyu Kushiyaki (flank steak).

Next in our round-up is the reigning king of meat a.k.a. Ryan Farr, who is putting finishing touches on a quick service operation out of a building from the 1930s. His 4505 Burgers and BBQ (705 Divisadero) is slated to open in late April. In-the-know carnivores likely remember the site previously had a run as Da Pitt and as a popular BBQ outfit named Brother-in-Laws. Farr told Bay Area Bites that his menu will be pretty simple and the same as can be found at the 4505 Meats shop and ferry building outposts: smoked meat sandwiches; the 4505 burger, served on a buttered bun and topped with shaved Pecorino (it’s worth it to get a fried egg on top); sausages along the lines of the ‘Zilla dog, which is a hot dog covered with bacon and topped with 4505 chicharrones and kimchee from Namu. For the new outfit, Farr promises one potentially addictive add-on for that brisket or pulled pork sandwich: center cut bacon.

“People always ask us for bacon with their orders, so we’re going to go with that. What’s better than one slice of bacon? Two slices. Ours is really thick, and you’ll definitely know that yes, you’re eating bacon,” he said.

Farr does recommend following something of a formula when ordering: do a BBQ sandwich with the smoked meat of your choice and a side. But there should be plenty of variations on that formula with what he calls a “simple but delicious” menu. The meat expert, butcher, and Mission District resident has also apparently found good luck at the new spot, which was once a stable. “We found an old horseshoe that was buried. I’m all into good luck so I was totally ecstatic about that.”

There will be patio seating and Farr said he is intent on taking the time to build things correctly and not cut corners, while of course staying within budget. “We want to do it right and plan on being there for a long time,” he said.

Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty. Photo: Alanna Hale

The Square (1707 Powell St.) is the widely anticipated modern American North Beach 100-seat restaurant and bar due to open this weekend, on March 1, from chefs Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty. The duo earned raves with both their 2010 Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters restaurant and with their lunch spot Sweet Woodruff.

There’s no denying the new site comes with its own reputation. For decades it was lovingly referred to as “The Washbag” and “The Square” when it was The Washington Square Bar & Grill, where celebs, like Herb Caen, and politicians would knock back a few Vitamin V vodka martinis before digging into a bowl of fried calamari or pasta carbonara.

Moriarty told Bay Area Bites that the menu from Chefs Duncan Holmes and Galen Vasquez will include: “dishes that we are excited about: our shared plates, including a whole roast Dungeness Crab with herbed butter, Romesco sauce, and grilled bread. We will also do a whole rack of ribs with polenta and cucumber salad. Both are really fun delicious dishes that you can dig into with your hands. We think that it is a really fun way of dining.” There will also be dishes like as March pickles and bresaola, chicken fried quail with Romesco, and barley and green garlic risotto.

Which of the new restaurants are you excited to try? What other openings are on your list?

Three Twins ice cream is a local business that’s been around since 2005. The company makes organic products and has four scoop shops in Northern California including a recently reopened one in the Haight. I enjoy their ice cream sandwiches, pints and scoops because the flavors are interesting and refreshing. There’s an altruistic approach to this company–from fundraisers for Hurricane Katrina victims to donating to land conservation via 1% for the Planet. Equally interesting and totally fun is the fact that Founder Neil Gottlieb and sometimes his staff wear the catchiest outfits to industry events. To add to the fun, Gottlieb launched a Sergio Romo flavor last September — “Sergio Romo’s Mexican Chocolate“–a cheeky reference to the baseball star wearing an “I Just Look Illegal” t-shirt to much controversy. The flavor’s tagline claims: “It only tastes illegal.”

Gottlieb is a Cornell University grad and decided to strike out on his own in the ice cream industry rather than attend business school. He went with a loan from his parents, a dedicated duo that have been seen selling Three Twins at farmers’ markets. Although his family helped with the hard work of starting up the business, the operation is exclusively Neil’s.

The first storefront for Three Twins was in San Rafael, and there are now other shops in San Francisco, Napa and Larkspur. There’s also a much larger production site housing an ice cream factory in Petaluma’s dairy belt. With an eye toward sustainability, the company is able to partner with nearby farms that provide milk and cream and are within a 17-mile radius.

Three Twins is available in many Bay Area restaurants, and has national distribution in Whole Foods Market, The Fresh Market and other independent grocers. To find out more, Bay Area Bites recently caught up with Gottlieb. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Three Twins scoops of organic ice creamPhoto: Three Twins

Bay Area Bites: How and why did you start making ice cream?Gottlieb: I had never actually made ice cream before deciding to start an ice cream company. But, I decided to set forth building the next great American ice cream brand, so I started making ice cream at home, then took a commercial ice cream making class, which lasted two days and was terrifying. Almost every ice cream involved something out of a little brown bottle. It was like chemistry class without the Bunsen burners. When I actually opened up the business in 2005, I had only made a couple dozen batches of ice cream, so most of my learning was hands on.

Lemon cookie ice cream production at the Three Twins factoryPhoto: Three Twins

Bay Area Bites: Where do you get your recipes: Dad’s cardamom, lemon cookie, chocolate orange confetti, strawberry Je Ne Sais Quoi and so on?Gottlieb: They are developed in-house. It’s not actually that hard to make great ice cream if you use good ingredients and leave out the crap. Inspiration comes from all realms — from the spice rack, favorite flavor combinations, and making flavors organic for the first time that were previously only available in conventional ice cream, like our Sea Salted Caramel. Or, in the case of Sergio Romo’s Mexican Chocolate with the tagline “it only tastes illegal,” the inspiration came from his infamous t-shirt.

Sergio Romo at 2012 Giants World Series parade in San Francisco. Photo: Michael Marconi

Bay Area Bites: Congratulations on re-opening in the Haight. That process took over two years after a fire shuttered operations. What was it like?Gottlieb: It was a full 833 days. The process was reminiscent of one long trip to the dentist. Without Novocain. But, we are thrilled to be reopened and back in the neighborhood.

Bay Area Bites: You offer ice cream sandwiches at the Haight shop and pints of Sergio Romo’s Mexican chocolate. What are your favorites?Gottlieb: My favorite flavor at the Haight shop is the Pliny the Elder around the corner at Toronado. I am very proud of what we’re doing: bringing inconceivably delicious organic ice cream to the world at a reasonable price and giving back at the same time through our land conservation initiative, Ice Cream for Acres. Also, Cookies & Cream or one of our Fair Trade ice cream sandwiches with Chocolate Chip Cookies and Vanilla Ice Cream are some of my favorites.

Bay Area Bites: You often make a splash at events like the Fancy Food Show by wearing a crazy costume. Where are the costumes stored? Did you dress up a lot as a kid? (Or not at all… and this is a way of making up for that?)Gottlieb: Crazy is subjective. I believe that a little dose of personal branding can go a long way, especially when your mug and signature are imprinted on millions of ice cream containers each year. So, if it means that I show a little of what my momma gave me or sport custom ice cream cone pants in order to help build the brand, why not? Plus, nothing will ever be as potentially damning to future political aspirations as what I wore to run Bay to Breakers one year.

]]>https://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/2014/02/17/organic-ice-cream-sergio-romo-catchy-outfits-qa-with-three-twins-neal-gottlieb/feed/277434NeilGottlieb700Neil Gottlieb in front of the Three Twins production factory in Petaluma
Photo courtesy of Three TwinsRomo-Ice-CreamScoops-Three-TwinsThree Twins scoops of organic ice cream
Photo: Three TwinsLemon-Cookie-Production-at-FactoryLemon-Cookie-Production-at-Factory Lemon cookie ice cream production at the Three Twins factory
Photo: Three TwinsSergioRomoLgSergio Romo at 2012 Giants World Series parade in San Francisco. Photo: Michael Marconithreetwins600Neil Gottlieb at the 2012 San Francisco Street Food Festival. Photo: Wendy GoodfriendValentine’s (Wine and Cocktails) with Greg and Shelley Lindgrenhttps://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/2014/02/13/valentines-wine-and-cocktails-with-greg-and-shelley-lindgren/
https://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/2014/02/13/valentines-wine-and-cocktails-with-greg-and-shelley-lindgren/#commentsThu, 13 Feb 2014 17:46:29 +0000http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/?p=77761Shelley and Greg Lindgren. Photo courtesy of the Lindgrens

She is like the fairy godmother of wine and Italian food. Very few people can make you feel so comfortable and she possesses a deep wisdom about wine. Greg is somewhat of a cocktail savant with encyclopedic knowledge on the history of cocktails.

The Lindgrens caught up with Bay Area Bites recently and shared Valentine’s wine and cocktail recommendations that work no matter what one’s love status may be. Their comments have been edited for clarity.

Bay Area Bites: How did you two meet?

Shelley Lindgren: We met the summer of 1998 while I was working at Fleur De Lys. Greg and Jon had just opened 15 Romolo, and the Fleur staff would go there every night after work. Greg always had my drink waiting for me. One night, he asked me to a breakfast date at Suppenküche in Hayes Valley. The rest is history. We’ve been married 13 years.

Bay Area Bites: What is it like to work in similar and overlapping industries?

Shelley Lindgren: We try and keep work separate so that we don’t become overwhelmed with the everyday grind, but we use each other as sounding boards for ideas, and, of course, wine and cocktail recommendations.

Bay Area Bites: How do you negotiate work vs. home life?

Greg Lindgren: We check in with each other, and see who can pick up kids and if we need to book a last minute sitter. Some weeks are more packed than others, but we’re used to juggling and late hours.

Lindgren family photo. Photo courtesy of the Lindgrens

Bay Area Bites: A16 SF is at the ten-year mark and Greg, you are seeing growth in your businesses. What else is new?

Shelley Lindgren: A16 catering recently had our first event alongside Rye on the Road. We had a blast and are looking forward to more events. Greg has been instrumental sharing advice from his experience in this department with Rye on the Road. There is still so much research and work to develop both A16 and SPQR. It is a marathon lifestyle and something we always want to grow with our wonderful team. We love what we do!

Greg Lindgren:Rye on the Road is getting it’s own commissary/studio in SOMA this year. For the last several years we have been running our offsite operations from the bar. This space will allow us to maintain our growth, and serve as a resource where we develop our bar ideas.

Bay Area Bites: Who pours at home? What are you drinking these days?

Shelley Lindgren: Sometimes we don’t want to open a bottle of wine, so we happily opt for dabbling into Greg’s Amaro collection that he has been building over the last 14 years. When we do drink at home, everyone pours (mostly wine). Our boys Finn and Asher take great pride in pouring a glass for Mom and Dad. We are starting them in service early! Tasting will have to wait until they are older though.

Bay Area Bites: What are you serving for Valentine’s Day?

Shelley Lindgren: We are beaming with excitement to welcome back as a guest A16’s opening executive chef, Christophe Hille, whom we owe so much for our menu focus and food development at A16. It’s wonderfully nostalgic and a great reminder of how fortunate we are to have so many people who have supported us all these years. Party time! Also, Valentine’s Day is A16’s anniversary.

Greg Lindgren: My cocktail, My Bitter Valentine, is the special of the day for Rye. It’s a cocktail for everyone else on Valentine’s Day, not just couples.

Bay Area Bites: What’s your favorite drink?

Greg Lindgren: I love a Sazerac, or a Highball made with Japanese whisky.

Shelley Lindgren: I’m a Negroni girl, and have been for years and years.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you get inspiration for your work?

Greg Lindgren: Life here in San Francisco, and travel.

Shelley Lindgren: I learn so much from our Italian winemaker friends, many who make the journey to San Francisco this time of year for events. It is a reminder to always put our best foot forward and show as much hospitality as possible. I love it and feel inspired every year I get to see them here. The world seems very small sometimes.

Shelley’s Wine Recommendations:

Damiano Ciolli, ‘Silene‘, Olevano Cesanese, Lazio 2009:
For many years, Cesane-based red wines were not easy to find exported outside the demands of Rome. Quality-focused, small producers, like Damiano Ciolli, make incredibly versatile wines that I have had so much fun pairing with a wide range of foods from artichokes to porchetta.

Ettore Germano‘Rosanna,’ Brut Rose, Piemonte:
I often think pink with bubbles on Valentine’s Day. In fact, we always offer at least one rose sparkling at A16, SPQR and A16 Rockridge. As a longtime fan of Sergio Germano and his talented winemaking, his newest sparkling release, ‘Rosanna’ is my new obsession. Sergio likes to drink great Champagne and it shows with the quality of Nebbiolo sparkling he was able to create here. It has great effervescence, rose petals, biscuity nose and elegance that have me wanting to pour it for everyone.

Pietracupa, Greco di Tufo, Campania 2012:
Sabino Loffredo will be joining us for our 10th anniversary at A16. He is not only one of the most talented white winemakers in Italy, he is a star of Campania. He makes wines he believes in and they have become a benchmark for greatness of Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo. From bitter greens like kale and dandelion to fish and braised meats, this fabulous Greco di Tufo is complex and delicate, making it a really fun wine to recommend and a go-to for drinking.

My Bitter Valentine. Photo: Ryan Robles Public Relations

Greg’s “My Bitter Valentine” Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 oz. Campari

1/2 oz. Aperol

3/4 oz. Cocchi Vermouth

1/2 oz. Blood Orange Juice

3 oz. Seltzer

Dash of Regan’s Orange Bitters

Instructions:
Combine ingredients and serve tall over ice with a blood orange slice.

This is the sweet story of love and a restaurant. Chef Mat Schuster and wine expert Francisco “Paco” Cifuentes opened Canela Bistro & Wine Bar in the Castro in 2011 and are partners in business and life. They aren’t your typical “mom and pop” restauranteurs, but rather “pop and pop” restauranteurs who put all of their effort and passion into Canela as sole investors. Bay Area Bites recently caught up with the two to find out about delicious Spanish-inspired Valentine’s food and wine recommendations. Their comments have been edited for clarity.

Bay Area Bites: How did you two meet?

Paco: The old-fashioned way, at a neighborhood sports bar. The first time I saw him, he was having a conversation with somebody else so I did not pay that much attention. Then I kept running into him and thought it was a bit strange and too many times for it to be by chance…. Then we met at that same bar again and Mat asked me if I would let him buy me a drink and invited me to join him and his friends. The rest is history!

Bay Area Bites: Paco, you are known for your wine expertise. Who pours at home and what are you drinking lately?

Paco: I pour at home. Mat is almost perfect on everything else, but he is not a wine drinker. I am the one who chooses the wine for dinner parties and am always drinking from several bottles at a time. I don’t drink several bottles on the same day because I have a wine preserver system. Right now I am drinking a Godello from Spain, a great Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina, and an amazing 2004 Brunello di Montalcino. I am in heaven with all of them!

Bay Area Bites: What is it like to work together? How do you negotiate work versus home life?

Mat: People told us that we were going to fight if we started working together. We have a spirited relationship anyway and now we fight about much more interesting things then whose turn it is to buy toilet paper! We do have to make an effort to stop talking about work to maintain just a little bit of sanity.

Paco: It is hard but fun at the same time. There is nobody that I trust as much I trust Mat and I think he feels the same way. We are constantly leaning on each other to move the business forward. It is also hard because the lines between work and home life are blurry. I don’t mind. I think we know each other in a way that most couples can not and I always love what I see.

Canela interior. Photo courtesy of Canela

Bay Area Bites: What’s new at the restaurant?

Mat: We are constantly changing things to make ourselves better whether it be the food, decor, processes. We never sit around too long to pat ourselves on the back. As a relatively new business, there is always something to improve! I just got a small smoking gun food smoker and I have been having fun with that smoking different oils. I am going to try a smoked gazpacho next!

Paco: One of the things I love about this business is that no one night is the same as another. We went through a major renovation that has brought a more intense “soul” to Canela, the kind of soul that Mat and I always envisioned. Mat also changes the menu all the time.

Paella at Canela. Photo courtesy of Canela

There are also some new fantastic wines that we started introducing this fall: Riojas, Albariño, Toro, and our first vino from Navarra.

Bay Area Bites: What are you serving up for Valentine’s Day? And what recommendations would you give for food and wine?

Mat: We are doing 3 seatings and 4 courses with optional vegetarian courses and wine flights available. The menu is:

Paco: We love that day, and take it very seriously. Mat spends tons of time developing the tasting menu and it is very special for us.

For wine, I would start with some bubbles, such as a glass of “Font i Jordana,” an amazing Cava from Spain. Then I would follow with a glass of a well-rounded white wine, with some floral notes, such as the 2010 “200 Cestos” an amazing Godello from Valdeorras, Spain that will help you feel the enchantment of the night. And then I would definitely go with a sophisticated but bold red, like a Rivera del Duero or a Toro. A glass of 2009 “Viña Sastre, Regina Vides” is perfect for the main dishes. These wines will make you love everything that night.

Bay Area Bites: Where are your Bay Area favorite romantic spots?

Paco: The combination of farmland, wild nature and charming little towns makes Sonoma County incredibly romantic! I always want to bring Mat to Sebastopol and the Russian River and get him out of his kitchen. For brunch or dinner, we end up at The French Garden and Martha’s Old Mexico.

Bay Area Bites: What’s your guilty food pleasure?

Mat: Chinese Food pig out. I love to try lots of things, either old favorites from a new place or new items I have not had before. To be a little bit adventurous, I like the more authentic Szechuan style restaurants.

Paco: Chocolate croissants. I can eat hundreds of them.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you get work inspiration?

Mat: My collection of Spanish cookbooks that we have brought back from our many different trips to Spain. It is fantastic to see how I can take traditional Spanish ingredients and make them my own, either infused with a modern technique or a California ingredient.

Paco: It is such an amazing feeling knowing that you have contributed to someone grabbing a moment of pleasure and happiness enjoying our food and wines.

Chef Bruce Hill has for years been one to watch for his mastery of craveable dishes: Neapolitan thin crust pizza; frozen custard perfection; and the best bar burger — his dishes often made via wood-fired grill with the use of his patented stainless steel Chef’s press. Hill is self-taught and trained with Jeremiah Tower at Stars as well as in the kitchen at Aqua. He is currently involved with the newly revamped Fog City as well as Zero Zero, Bix, Pizzeria Picco and Picco in Marin. His restaurants tend to get favorable notice from the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications and he is known as a cook with a great palate and a consistent manner.

Fog City Cheeseburger. Photo: Kristen Loken

Hill can often be spotted at the Civic Center farmers’ market; more on that inspiration source in a bit. He has helped consumers learn about some tasty and unique specialty items before others caught on: black garlic and later organic soft serve ice cream with or without a swirl of olive oil. Hill was raised in Washington D.C. and has cooked locally since 1984. His team at Fog City includes Erik Lowe as Chef de Cuisine and Pastry Chef Aaron Toensing. Chef Hill’s comments have been edited for clarity and length.

Bay Area Bites: What is it like to be back at Fog City?

Hill: It’s a little bit mixed. We really have a range of different customers coming in. The building works now, and we changed the flow.

Being back in the building brings up a whole range of emotions. There are some very joyous days and there are some days we have to work hard to get people to understand what our product is. We challenged ourselves with keeping the two words of Fog City. You see the Yelps and they say, “This isn’t the Fog City Diner we remember.”

Fog City handcut Furikake Fries. Photo: Kristen Loken

Bay Area Bites: Can you tell us more about the wood-fired dishes that utilize a custom-made grill?

Hill: Half the kitchen is literally wood-fired. What’s neat is that there are some dishes that really sing with that appliance. For the whole kitchen, top to bottom, we made it really functional, like our burger station. Chef sent me a picture where they were cooking 12 burgers at once; that set up is really consistent and fast.

All over the kitchen, we had fun with the design. For example, the customer can see a burger being cooked, or process of making the roast chicken and the clams. Chef Eric’s now the conductor. Every single plate that comes out, he gets to scrutinize. He can finish and garnish each dish so every last touch can happen by the chef’s hand.

Hill: For cooking, there are many. Some are people I worked for, like Jeremiah Tower. Others are local chefs that are friends: David Kinch and Stuart Brioza. I like Greg Dunmore at Nojo. There are so many others.

My business partners Bill Upson and Bill Higgins have showed me how to make a restaurant into a sustainable business so that we can support the lives of 80 people and their families. You can be the creative person but if you can’t make sure the bills are paid on time… that’s so important. It saddens me to see when a business opens and due to lack of financial management skills vendors and employees don’t get paid. It’s very sad.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you get inspiration?

Hill: From discovering things at farmers’ markets. I was at the farmers’ market yesterday with my wife and it’s my happy place. I’ll see Chinese mustard greens and if someone’s fighting me to get to it, I’ll ask how they cook it and hope they’ll tell me. Experiencing other people’s food inspires me and puts me at the same pace as the customer. Often in the kitchen, the meter is going too fast. It’s important to go out on your day off when you’re relaxed and bring that inspiration back.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you hang out after work?

Hill: Home, in Alamo Square. I sometimes go out with guy friends on Sunday night but for the most part, I’m a homebody.

For eating spots, I am always looking to try people’s food that share the passion that I have and my chefs have. I like State Bird and am looking forward to trying Daniel Patterson’s new restaurant, Alta. I often go to places in my neighborhood: Nojo, Rich Table, and Bar Jules. I’m really blessed and definitely looking forward to seeing Corey Lee’s new restaurant down the street.

Bay Area Bites: What are the best and worst parts of your job?

Hill: The best is the people. I love the passion that people share for food and the care that they put into it. It all boils down to mutual respect among humans. I love talking with a customer and seeing them smile after they take a bite.

There aren’t that many bad parts. I would say plumbing issues are bad. I’m very involved in the maintenance of my businesses and am the scooper or fix-it guy. I feel blessed that I can make that sort of thing better.

Bay Area Bites: Anything we can expect in the future?

Hill: No. I intend to try to keep all my businesses on a balanced and sustainable path moving forward. In 2014, I intend to promote my cooking tool, the Chef’s Press, available at Williams-Sonoma. At Fog City, we use it extensively on the roast chicken and burger. I have new designs, shapes and sizes coming.

Also, I want to learn how to weld and will be taking a workshop. I’ll be at The Crucible, in Oakland. Welding and steel work have always excited me.

Lately I’ve been dabbling in pot goodies and have gotten advice from the potheads in my life. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer last September (in the early and treatable stages), I decided to venture to my local marijuana dispensary. Although I’m not usually a pot smoker, I was open to the idea of eating sweets and baked goods that have medicinal marijuana, to help potentially aid with any sleeplessness, pain and anxiety from cancer.

First, I bought an Auntie Dolores chocolate cookie, and completely forgot to eat a small portion of the cookie in the privacy of my own living room. It’s a cookie—-my natural instinct is to eat the whole thing, which I did. Slowly, because the pot taste seemed to coat my tongue and linger after any swallowing. Within fifteen minutes, I was buzzy and a little dizzy. It was tough to walk to the bathroom without putting my hands on the walls and I was giggle-cringing the whole route. Rather than have the desired mellow and easy night, I tossed and turned with vivid and bizarre dreams. The next day I was still a little dizzy and felt hung over. We almost cancelled whale watching plans but I guzzled water to get the sweet pot taste out of my mouth. It took a few hours out of the morning for me to feel better. I had a similar reaction when I ate only half of a cookie.

Chamomile lavender Baked cookie. Photo credit: Nicole Rosario

I did hear that a natural chef friend of mine, J.C., was making pot cookies so I happily took him up on his offer to sample some. He promised that his line of Baked cookies (get it?)—which come in gourmet flavors like cashew butter cardamom, blackstrap molasses, and lemon Matcha, would offer the mellower marijuana experience I was after. I have cooked and catered with him often enough to know he has a good palate and intuitive sense of how to make things healthy while remaining delicious. J.C., a private chef, is still in the early stages of developing his Baked cookies and was able to share his process of baking with medicinal marijuana. I enjoyed that I was able to eat half a cookie, enjoy a gourmet treat, and not feel drained or hungover. His comments have been edited for clarity and length.

Bay Area Bites: How and why did you start baking pot cookies?

J.C.: It kind of started as a joke. My partner is a card-carrying cannabis client and wanted to do a cooking project with me that incorporated medical marijuana. I’m a natural chef into the therapeutics of food so I started reading and learning about the medicinal properties of cannabis. There can be a fun element to something that may not be so fun—getting positive relief from the symptoms of being sick.

Right now I’m making the cookies for my partner and testing recipes with some card-carrying friends. I want it to be 100% legit. I want to sell to dispensaries, that’s my goal.

Bay Area Bites: Where did you get your recipes?

J.C.: I’ve been making them up. I took a basic concept like a peanut butter cookie and then improvised to make a cashew butter with cardamom recipe. I started with a basic sugar cookie recipe and it evolved into the lemon Matcha cookie. I’m not a baker, and am much more interested in being playful with the flavors. I kind of want to hide the flavor of the marijuana.

Bay Area Bites: Your cookies are mellower than others on the market. That is a good thing but why go more mellow?

J.C.: My whole goal is to give you something you can eat, enjoy the flavor, and benefit from the effects of the medical marijuana. I find that edibles are usually way too strong and twice I’ve had a feeling that was almost “cracked out.” I want people to enjoy their cookie, like a really nice glass of wine.

Bay Area Bites: Tell me about the trial and error process of creating the cookies.

J.C.: The process has been about making the butter with marijuana. Doing that is something I’m still not 100% comfortable with and right now I’m looking for someone who’s established and is making the butter. For a cookie to work, it really depends on the strain and the potency of the marijuana in the butter.

The original idea was to do Toll House-style cookie dough. You buy the dough in a package of six and they’re ready to bake off. Just keep the cookie dough in the fridge 7-14 days. Then put it in the freezer if you can’t use it.

I’ve been playing with how potent the cookies are, and how well they freeze. The first few times I made the double chocolates ones the texture was too doughy. I’ve been reading Cooks Illustrated on how to make chewy cookies and researching different baking textures. It’s been fun having the cookie dough in the house, ready to bake for people in need. I love that.

Bay Area Bites: What are your plans for the New Year?

J.C.: My personal goal is to have the business roll out in some form: find some packaging, and launch in some capacity. I was doing catering and extra work. Now that I have my private chef business set up and have time to focus on projects, I can do just that.

I am also interesting in producing non-medicinal cookies for places like Whole Foods and Bi-Rite Market, for people that don’t desire the marijuana high.

One thing that is really important to me is: life is too short to not enjoy good food. My goal with sweet or savory recipes is to make them more nutritious and have fun experimenting with flavors. I am working on creating medicinal products that both taste good and are beneficial to health and happiness.

60,000 pounds of fresh fruit, 2,200 pounds of assorted cheeses, 14,000 pounds of potatoes, 10,000 pounds of whole chicken: the numbers for feeding guests on a Celebrity Millennium cruise ship are bigger than any catering gig I’ve tackled and definitely interesting from an operational standpoint. For this type of dining, sauces and dressings are all made in-house: my onboard kitchen tour confirmed this and I was surprised at how fresh things tasted. Cruise ships are floating cities, with constant food and entertainment options—for wine, there are those self-serve by-the-ounce kiosks open 24 hours a day. Vodka is the most popular spirit. Cocktail options beyond martinis range from Moscow Mule to passion fruit and pear drinks. The food displays reminded me of cooking school and catering, where I quickly learned how much time and care it takes to make a fruit sculpture, an ice carving or a delectable looking house made out of three kinds of bread.

The Celebrity Millennium in Alaska. Photo courtesy of Celebrity Cruises

I was excited to see the natural sites via a recent cruise to Alaska, and appreciated the idea of not having to plan, cook or clean for anyone. Eating (and drinking) onboard a floating city is fun, comfortable, and even exciting–there’s a reason Celebrity was featured on Top Chef for exactly this sort of modern and tasty fare (of course, the TV arrangement likely took some brand negotiating). One trend at Qsine, one of the many restaurants onboard, included appetizers served in a standing drawer–really the coolest presentation I’ve seen in a long time. I interviewed Chef Steve van der Merwe, Corporate Chef at Celebrity Cruises to find out more about cooking on a cruise ship. His comments have been edited for length.

Chef Steve van der Merwe. Photo courtesy of Celebrity Cruises

Bay Area Bites: What is it like to cook on a cruise ship? van der Merwe: It presents its own unique challenges. Guest demographics change every cruise. Or the ship may experience heavy seas, making it rather interesting in the galleys. Safety is of utmost importance at all times. We use specialized cooking equipment that can withstand the ship’s rolling-and-rocking motion.

Bay Area Bites: How many kitchens are on board?van der Merwe: Celebrity Millennium has a total of eight galleys and a double occupancy of 2,158 guests. The ship serves over 10,500 meals per day, including the crew of around 950.

Bay Area Bites: Intricate ice sculptures, elaborate bread houses, dynamic brunch buffet displays: all part of the dining experience aboard Celebrity Cruise. What sort of planning and details go into that?van der Merwe: The Executive Chef will plan themed brunches reflecting the time of year. A Christmas brunch features Santa Claus with his reindeer carved in ice. Gingerbread houses are customized, too. Ports-of-call influence the offerings and if a ship is docked in the Mediterranean, we source the best quality, fresh mozzarella cheese and olive oil. At the various ports, guests can indulge in a taste of the local culture.

Bay Area Bites: What size ice blocks are used for ice sculptures?van der Merwe: The ice blocks come in 350-pound slabs. Carving an ice block can take up to 90 minutes. The most time-consuming part is allowing the ice block to “soften” a little for around two hours in a temp-controlled environment.

Bay Area Bites: What was it like to move up the ranks?van der Merwe: Challenging. I had a lot of cooks in the galley around the same young age as me. Competition was tough. However, we all met for beer and talked about the evening’s service after work.

It always was a little daunting being moved to a new section. On ships, there is very little time for training, so you would be told ahead of time that you would be moving sections and you had to balance your section, while learning and training for the next one. We all find ourselves “in the weeds” sometimes.

Bay Area Bites: What are the daily food numbers like?van der Merwe: If we have a hot day at sea, our fresh salads and fruit consumption spike. If it’s cold and rainy, guests gravitate to heavier, hot meals.

On a seven-night cruise Celebrity Millennium will use:

2,200 dozen eggs

500 gallons of whole milk

3,200 individual whole milks

60,000 pounds of fresh fruit

2,200 pounds of assorted cheeses

14,000 pounds of potatoes

10,000 pounds of whole chicken

Bay Area Bites: How does the 24-hour bakery production unfold?van der Merwe: We produce all our own pastries and bread. There are seven bakers; four bakers work the day shift and three at night. There are an additional 16 cooks in the pastry section as well, and two cooks for the night shift. The pastry team produces a lot of the cake sponges and other items needed for the next day. There is one cook solely dedicated to making ice cream and one who makes gelato on board.

Bay Area Bites: What is a funny memory from cooking on board?van der Merwe: When I worked in the production galley, there were three Chef De Parties and a 2nd Cook. The guy in charge of the cold pantries for the entire ship was making pie pastry. He measured his flour and added butter and then walked away to get some salt. The mixer was still off and switched to the lowest setting (no. 1). I walked past the mixer and switched the setting to the highest (no. 4). When the poor guy returned he hit the “on” button without checking the setting. As a result, the paddle blitzed the cold butter and flour into the biggest flour cloud you have ever seen in your life. We all laughed uncontrollably. He was less than impressed by the fact that he was covered from head to toe in flour.